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Mayday 2017 in Dublin - Video & Photography of the March and Anarchist Bloc

Date: Wed, 2017-05-03 13:01

Mayday 2017 saw the annual Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) organised march through Dublin. The theme of the march was the struggle for housing, with it being led off by housing action groups including the Irish Housing Network. Other campaign groups on the march included Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, Abortion Rights Campaign, Sex Workers Alliance and a range of other campaign groups, unions and left groups. There was also a sizeable anarchist bloc bringing up the rear with a banner that used the James Connolly quotation 'Our demands are most moderate, we only want the Earth'.

Pat Bolger, president of DCTU, told TheJournal.ie "We’re calling for a programme of public housing to ease the current crisis. The government ministers’ reliance on the private sector is just unrealistic at this stage."

"History has a lot to teach us about the roots of our radicalism. When we remember that people were shot so we could have the 8-hour day; if we acknowledge that homes with families in them were burned to the ground so we could have Saturday as part of the weekend; when we recall 8-year old victims of industrial accidents who marched in the streets protesting working conditions and child labor only to be beat down by the police and company thugs, we understand that our current condition cannot be taken for granted - people fought for the rights and dignities we enjoy today, and there is still a lot more to fight for. The sacrifices of so many people can not be forgotten or we'll end up fighting for those same gains all over again. This is why we celebrate May Day."

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